Äppelkaka (Swedish Apple Cake)

Hi folks, this post is coming to you today from glorious England. The dish featured today was made back in France, but I’m in my homeland right now for a couple of weeks of glorious vacation. Spending time with family, visiting some of my old haunts – fantastic! I only arrived yesterday so I haven’t had a chance to get out and about and take any photos yet but I will soon, and I’ll be sure to share them with you just as soon as I do. I’m also eagerly looking around for inspiration on things I can make, both while I’m here, and when I return to France again. English food gets a bad rap but we have some great stuff here and I’m determined to seek out a few things. I dabbled in a bit of English cookery once before on my blog and in case you missed it you can check out all my recipes tagged as “English” here.

For today’s post I’m going a bit further away from the shores of England though and back into Sweden, to make a Swedish Apple Cake, or “äppelkaka” as it’s called over there. To say it’s a cake is misleading – at least in my opinion. There’s no batter, and the vast majority of the cake is entirely apple. It takes no time at all to throw together and after 30 – 40 minutes in the oven you can have it out and on the table, ready to go. Traditionally, the cake doesn’t have cinnamon, but I don’t know a single apple dish which isn’t dramatically improved with a good sprinkle of the spice. It works best as well with apples that have a bit of bite – something like Granny Smith – which will really help lift the flavour up.

For the breadcrumbs, I used left-over bread from my Gardener’s Sandwich. I wouldn’t want to throw all that lovely soft filling away and this was the perfect use for it. Let it dry out a bit and then just pulverise it in a food processor. A couple of minutes later you’ve got beautiful breadcrumbs. I served it with a vanilla, pecan and caramel ice-cream which I bought which was a perfect accompaniment for the cake, so I can totally recommend those flavour combinations.

I hope you’re able to give the cake a try and enjoy the video as well. I’ll be back in a few days with, hopefully, some photos and some stories and maybe even something food-related too. Have a good day everyone!

Äppelkaka (Swedish Apple Cake)

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Ingredients

6 or 7 large Apples

140g Demerara Sugar

120g Breadcrumbs (not panko)

60g Butter

1tbsp Cinnamon

3-4tbsps Water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and then start off by washing and coring the apples and then slicing them in half. Grate the apple halves coarsely (including the skin) and then set aside.

Grease a deep, loose-bottomed or spring-form pan with a diameter of ~20cm. Next, arrange a third of the breadcrumbs evenly over the bottom of the tin. Add in half of the grated apples and push out to form a layer on top of the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on half of the sugar and half of the cinnamon before sprinkling on another third of the breadcrumbs. Make another layer using the rest of the apples, then the sugar and cinnamon, and then finally top with the remaining breadcrumbs. Cut the butter up into small cubes and dot over the surface of the breadcrumbs, before sprinkling the water on top.

Place the tin into the preheated oven for ~35-40 minutes and then remove. Allow to cool for a while before removing the ring of the tin. Because of the style of this cake you will probably need to leave the cake on the base of the tin. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy in generous slices, preferably with some ice-cream!

I have been looking for a genuine Appelkakor recipe for a while. This looks very close to the ones the family made when I was an au-pair in Stocksund. I’ll definitely be making it. The video’s great. Thank you. GG

Hi Charles, we’re having JTs family for an Easter lunch on Sunday and I’ve been killing myself trying to find a recipe for dessert, his family are pie eaters and Apple Pie has been requested. It’s a bit of a challenge since we have one diabetic and one hypo-glycemic in the family. Your recipe is PERFECT! There isn’t much sugar, so I can likely cut it down (or I’ve been thinking of trying Stevia), and there is virtually no flour, just the breadcrumbs and I particularly love that it’s so dense with apples. I am definitely making this one, thanks Charles, your recipe saved the day! I’m going to go the English route and serve it with an aged cheddar, maybe even port cheddar!
PS, I agree, I couldn’t make anything apple without cinnamon either, such a warming combination.

Hi Charles, I did make this delightful cake, thank you for the inspiration. Of course, as luck would have it, the bread crumbs that were purchased (we won’t point fingers, but it wasn’t me ;-)!) had Parmesan cheese in it so I had to improvise. I decided oats would be a good substitution, as well, I added a few ground almonds to the mix. It worked out incredibly well. Everyone loved the texture of the dense apple filling. I served it with slightly sweetened Greek yogurt with vanilla and lemon zest. I will for sure post the recipe. Thanks again.

Goodness… breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese inside? What an annoying invention… that fairly limits your options of what you can do with the things then doesn’t it, and they can be so versatile normally!

Your adaptation sounds absolutely gorgeous and I’m so glad it turned out well. Can’t wait to see the post… it seems that you’re a real fan of Swedish cakes! I hope you’ll be able to visit us when we live in Sweden some day and try some “live” :).

Yummy cake … mostly shredded apple and very little ‘filler’. :)I’ve made a couple of apple desserts lately myself but haven’t used anywhere near to the amount you did. I like the fact that you’re being a frugal baker and using odds and ends from other recipes to make this cake which is something that I do myself.

Hi A_ – yeah, I hate to waste stuff… I often put single egg whites into a glass in the refrigerator when I need just a yolk and forget about them for a bit, but then my wife surprises me with eggs in baskets or whatever they’re called for breakfast! <3

Thank you Barb – you’re right… it’s the same with me for your site… not sure what happened there… I’ve been having some problems with my RSS reader and it seems some of my feeds have vanished entirely! Glad you like the look of the cake

I’m impressed that you’re managing to post while on vacation Charles! Hope you enjoy your time in England…I’m sure that William is a big hit with your family and getting bigger by the minute. This appelkaka looks like the best way I can imagine to keep the doctor away (an apple a day and all that). I’ll tuck this recipe away for the next time I want to impress a crowd!

Hey Charles! I’m happy to hear you all arrived safely. Enjoy your trip. Now this is my kind of cake – no batter! It looks delicious. I would have added cinnamon too, and probably a touch of nutmeg and cloves. I just can’t help myself when it comes to apples. I’ll have to give this one a try sometime. Looking forward to your English recipes.

Hi Kristy – we did arrive safely, freaking nightmare trip though. Had my car serviced the day before leaving… got told the clutch was “almost dead”. Decided to rent a car. Arrived at my parents’ place and found a nail sticking out of the car-tyre. Had to go and pay to have the tyre changed… grrrr!

I did add cinnamon to this cake in fact… cloves would be a nice addition as well though, thanks for the idea!

Aww you are back in homeland! Your family must be so happy seeing and spending time with William! You get to enjoy some free time? I can pretty much go to see a movie when I’m back in Japan when I get babysitter (mom!). Swedish apple cake! It looks and sounds really delicious. I have tons of apples right now and I’m eating as it is… should make into a delicious cake like this! Enjoy your vacation!

Thank you Nami – it’s so wonderful to be here… but we’re going to be so sad to leave. My parents too will be really down about it. They don’t get to see their grandson as often as they want, so it’s like a good reminder that we must Skype more often! 😀

Sounds like you are having a wonderful time in your homeland with family and friends! I bet William hasn’t touched the ground in days. I’m sure he is getting passed from one person to the next. This Apple Cake looks delicious! It’s quite different from apple cakes I’ve seen around here. I love it! Enjoy your visit my friend!

Hi MJ – oh yes, he’s certainly getting lots of snuggles! Of course, he’s almost mobile now so if you do put him down he’s off somewhere within seconds… desperately “swimming” across the floor, in search of things to destroy 😀

Oh my! Your site’s undergone a change Sorry if it’s my fault that it’s been changed for a while now and I haven’t realised – I’ve been so busy with uni lately
I love apple desserts. And I have to agree the cinnamon just adds such a lovely punch to the flavour of the overall cake.. But that ice-cream.. tell me more about it!

Charles, we were both thinking apples this week! Though your recipe is considerably heavier on the apples than mine. This looks like something I would definitely like – it’s amazing how just a few simple ingredients can come together and make something so scrummy!

this looks gorgeous charles! I love apple cake, any version, any country. There is just something about apples in the oven that transforms them from delicious to more delicious. I thought I’ve tried qutie a few out there already, but this one takes the cake (HUR. HUR. HUR.) using breadcrumbs and no flour at all?! Looks a treat, one definitely owrth trying. Happy easter to you and your lovely wife and baby, charles !xxx

Welcome! My name is Charles and this is FiveEuroFood. My goal with this site is to offer you recipes which reflect that cooking tasty food from scratch is not only easy and fun, but cheap as well. Read More →

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